The invention relates to a method for separating sausages which are joined together by means of a twisting point at which a clip may be situated.
Nowadays, sausages are produced by filling a skin, whether this be a natural or synthetic skin, with a suitable sausage filling in sausage portions. The individual sausages are separated between the individual portions, usually by fitting clips and/or twisting the skin, for which reason this point is also known as the twisting point. The result is a string of sausages, from which these sausages subsequently have to be cut off, for example in order to automatically package a certain number of sausages. Today this is still carried out, at great expense, by hand.
DD 106 131 has disclosed a device for separating individual sausages from a string of sausages, which device comprises two part conveyor systems, each with a pair of conveyor belts. If a twist between the sausages passes through a detection system, a separation system is actuated and the twist is cut through. This detection system operates using a light barrier and mirrors and is therefore unsuitable for precise control of the cutting operation at the desired high speeds. A light barrier of this nature is extremely sensitive to extraneous light, and the mirrors are subject to contamination, so that the determination of twisting points is extremely unsatisfactory. This alone renders known devices unsuitable. In addition, the cutting device itself, which is designed as a lifting blade, has proven entirely unsuitable for the speeds which are required nowadays. The device is dubious in safety terms, since it has a valve shut-off system which always returns to the starting position even in the event of a fault.
Furthermore, DE-A 31 21 432 has disclosed a sausage-cutting machine of the type mentioned above which has a sensor whose radiation source feeds a beam of electro-magnetic waves beyond the path of the sausages to a sensor. In this case too, mirrors are used, and these can easily become contaminated or coated with a film of grease from the sausages. The blade and its drive are entirely unsuitable for the high working rate of a sausage-cutting machine which is required nowadays.
DE-A 43 07 637 has also disclosed a device for separating sausages from a string of sausages. This document primarily describes a method with which a twisting point between two sausages can be accurately determined. This method has significant advantages, since it is also possible to determine irregularities in a twisting point with extremely high accuracy. However, a motor with a blade is activated by means of a corresponding sensor which accurately determines the twisting point or the desired cutting point, this blade finally completing the cutting operation.
The present invention is based on the object of improving the separation of sausages.